#05 Corporate integrity

Reliability and predictability are at the heart of our business.

Trust comes with transparency

Transparency is one of the key foundations for trust. Companies' decisions and the motives behind them will only be accepted – internally and externally – if they are transparent and easily understood. This applies all the more in times of change. High levels of reliability and predictability – both personally and in our business activities – serve as a bedrock, providing direction and creating stability.Transparent, responsible corporate governance is both a high priority and a tradition at Aareal Bank Group. We aim to act with integrity in everything we do and to base our business decisions on our core values. This approach is also reflected in our Declaration of Compliance with the German Corporate Governance Code and our Corporate Governance Statement.

Expanding our information offerings

We have developed a number of tools and measures in recent years to offer internal and external stakeholders even greater transparency. These include, among other things, new communication formats, greater use of digital media, and increased internal and external communication. What's more, all data that are relevant for our stakeholders are available online and have been cross-referenced.This also applies to a holistic overview of our business activities. For example, we are increasingly linking the information contained in our Sustainability Report with that in our Annual Report. And we also include our sustainability performance indicators in our communications with analysts and investors.

Ongoing reviews of our sustainability performance

Sustainability rating agencies regularly assess our sustainability performance and reporting, review the policies and measures included in our sustainability programme and benchmark them against other companies in the sector. This makes our commitment to sustainability transparent and comparable for interested stakeholders.The personal commitment shown by Aareal Bank Group's top executives also guarantees transparency and integrity: for example our Chairman of the Management Board, Hermann J. Merkens, is regularly available in person to talk to investors and analysts at roadshows and conferences.

"The Supervisory Board continuously addresses sustainability topics and their reporting. For example, a number of Supervisory Board members were involved both in 2016 and in the current reporting period in identifying relevant topics for Aareal Bank Group."

What we are working on

Implementing the European General Data Protection Regulation (Europäische Datenschutz-Grundverordnung – EU-DSG-VO) on schedule, which, together with the German Act to Adapt Data Protection Law to Regulation and Implementation (Datenschutz-Anpassungs- und -Umsetzungsgesetz – DSAAnpUG), governs data protection in the EU and in Germany